shiny blueberry bush

I am new to Palm Beach County and am thinking about planting some shiny blueberry bushes (Vaccinium myrsinites). My question is, when would I get ripe fruit in south Florida? In Massachusetts we get blueberries in late July and August, but I'm sure it's much earlier than that, right?

In north Florida we get them April/May but I do not think you have enough cold weather down south to get fruit. They need some chill hours to produce fruit. This site has fruit plants for Florida and if you check it out they do not have any bushes that require less that 150 hours of cold.
http://www.justfruitsandexotics.com/Blueberries.htm

thank you for the great link, I've got a lot to learn

Just Fruit is a great place, I have get a number of trees and plants from them. Do not know how much shipping is, as I drive over there a couple of times a year

Just Fruits is a great place. Got my dgt. 2 willow trees from there for around there natural pond they dug. They bought apple trees from there also. All are doing very well.
Bonnie

And if they don't in most cases they will replace. I get a persimmon from them that never leafed out that spring and they replaced it on my say so.

I thought JustFruits shipping was a bit high until I received my fig tree. They take excellent care in packaging their plants; the tree was also larger than most places sell.

The UofFL developed a line of blueberries that will grow in FL, not sure how far South though.
I am pretty sure that's what JustFruits sells. I would phone JustFruits, they were very helpful to me.

If you want to grow edible blueberries in Florida, the blueberries you want are called "Emerald" -that's the UF cultivar pbyrley is referencing.

I have a little patch here in Orlando that I planted 3 years ago, and they should do well for you even as far south as you are. You need to get them soon and get them in the ground - they're really fragile the first year planted, especially in the dry summers like this one. It fruits in the late spring after putting on some really beautiful bell shaped flowers.

I grew up up north as well - you're going to be a little underwhelmed with the blueberry production of southern blueberry bushes. We call them 'yard fruit' since that's typically where they get eaten - in the yard. Also remember they need extremely acidic soil to thrive - typical Florida sandy soils won't cut it. I conditioned my soil prior to planting.

Sometimes they show up at HD or Wal-mart, just make sure it is "emerald" since both stores frequently sell things in Florida that will never grow in florida (raspberries come to mind).

Thank you, I will try the Emerald U of F variety

I think, from you last posts, that you haven't read through the Just Fruits and Exotics link that Wren107 gave you. Please do and then phone them if you have specific questions.
I clicked on it and it tells you what you can grow in Florida by zone (you have to know your Zip code, I didn't). There are a lot to choose from, not just Emerald. Also, you really do need to cross pollinate blueberries to get good yield. Don't be afraid to ask the experts (Walmart and Home Depot don't qualify).

I looked for the Ag Extension link and first found these info links which you may find helpful::
http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/map/palmbeach_county.html
http://www.pbcgov.com/coextension/
Also try
edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs215
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg359

If you are just moving to S. Florida, you will likely find almost nothing is "like you did it in MA". I lived in Fort Lauderdale, in Orlando and in Gainesville and even they are different from each other (It's a long state). I now live in NC and my rabbiteye blueberries grow very well. We can hardly wait to start eating. But, if I lived in S. Florida again, I would be growing mangos, avocadas, bananas and maybe some citrus, not blueberries.

Good luck, I envy you.
Paul

I agree, when in Florida I should grow Florida things, not try to make things like blueberries fit. The reason I initially thought about blueberries is because I was looking for a hedge and have a requirement in my town to use 50% native plants. I thought I could fulfill that requirement, and have something edible with the shiny blueberry, which I thought was a native to Palm Beach county. I did then read the JustExotics link and see that blueberries really don't grow as far south as I am, however I didn't go back and look at it again when vnick suggested Emerald, I just wanted to respond promptly and thank him/her. But you are right, I think I am considering other options besides blueberries.

Simpson Stopper is native to Fl., grows fast & makes an excellent hedge with fragrant flowers that produce fruit the birds love. You won't eat the fruit but the birds will love you for it!

See:

http://allthingsplants.com/plants/view/120505/Simpsons-Stopper-Myrcianthes-fragrans/

I actually wrote that one down when I visited a Florida native nursery, so I'll have to put a star next to it that it comes recommended

And it's drought tolerant. But it can also take things on the moist side. You also might consider Myrica cerifera or Wax Myrtle, a great native, can be grown as a hedge or as tree.

http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/Wax_myrtle/waxmyrtl.htm

And it will do well in moist as well as dry pine land (sand) soils.

flaflwrgrl,
thanks for the link to Allthingsplants. I immed. registered for it.
I am trying to figure out how to get a FL house and that Simpson Stopper looks good to me. Esp. the bird feeding and the drought resistance part.

Paul

Look into native blueberries. There are high and low bush natives here.

Erin

From past research - the blueberry cultivars we need for Florida are the 'rabbit eye' type. For some reason, my blueberry plants (several rabbit eye cultivars) are doing better this year than ever before. I have several pints of blueberries that are ripening on about 6 bushes about 3 ft high. I need to get some netting over the berries or else I will have nothing other than a succulent bird and squirrel food station soon. LOL

A tip I got from a blueberry farmer/commercial grower at a horticulture industry show in Jacksonville a few years ago -- when planting your blueberry bushes, fill the hole around the roots with composted pine needles. This will keep the soil more acidic (preferred by blueberries) and will provide a good planting medium. I haven't tried the trick myself yet because all my blueberrie bushes were already in the ground, but I may dig them up in a few months and replant them with the composted pine needles. Using pine needles as a mulch around the blueberry plants will also help keep the soil slightly more acidic.

Jeremy

Jax, just use leaves or pine needles instead of mulch as a ground cover or mulch it into the top layer of soil and you'll get the same result. They also sell soil acidifier which works well. I definitely wouldn't dig up thriving blueberry bushes - you'll end up setting them back more than helping them.

I have tried quite a few of the highbush cultivars and for me the best are 'emerald' and then jewel. My emeralds took off in year two and have better and better yield as they got used to the spot. Fruiting well this year.

Jax is right . . . if you're north of Ocala. Rabbiteye doesn't get enough chill even here in Orlando to really get to fruiting. > see http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg359

so if you want blueberries in central or south Florida, I woudl go with Emerald and Jewel.

Don't know cultivars but we have 2 blueberry farms right near us that have been there for years. I'm in Cllermont which is Central Fl. also as is Orlando.
Good luck in your research.
Bonnie

The town of Bostwick (just north of Palatka, Florida) has a blueberry festival each year. I just checked the website and (unfortunately) it was this past weekend (May 19). I lived on the river in Bostwick for a few months and attended the festival. It is a great place to meet blueberry farmers and sample and purchase all things blueberry. http://bostwickblueberryfestival.com/

My friend, Judy Walsh, a Bostwick resident, chaired the Blueberry Festival Committee for a few years. She died of cancer several years ago, but is memorialized in the town center building for her contributions to making the festival a success and for contributing funds for the town center improvements (central A/C, etc.).

Jeremy

Our blueberry plants have been in full sun since 1988 and we get plenty of berries each year as long as you pick them when they turn red and early in the morning before the birds get them all there is enough for them and us. We set the berries on the counter and they turn blue and then put them on a baking pan with wax paper set them in the freezer and then put them in a container that way they don't stick together and we can pull some out for cereal or muffins. We get 3 to 4 gallons a year. I mulch them with pine and hand water them as well as sprinklers. Today I don't have to either Thanks for the rain. We already received over 6 in. The blueberries are in the background.

Blueberry recent pics